December 7, 2025 — It seems that everywhere we turn, we hear another story about ubiquitous exposure to PFAS – a class of endocrine disrupting chemicals that shows up in water, food, drugs, cosmetics, clothing, and household items. It is part of “pollution’s hidden weight in the obesity epidemic.” This perspective comes from a recent comprehensive examination in Current […]
September 7, 2025 — When scientists cracked the human genome in 2003 – sequencing the entire genetic code of a human being – many expected it would unlock the secrets of disease. But genetics explained only about 10% of the risk. The other 90% lies in the environment – and diet plays a huge part. Worldwide, poor diet is […]
August 24, 2025 — We are hearing much sound and fury about making America healthy and the noise is largely about improving the quality of the U.S. food supply. It would indeed be nice if MAHA brought us a better food supply. But in a thoughtful piece for The Atlantic, Yasmin Tayag says a more likely outcome may be […]
September 21, 2024 — A new study this week gives us pause for concern about the chemicals entering our body from food packaging. Some of them are endocrine disrupting chemicals that can alter the way our body stores fat. Researchers inventoried a total of 14,000 chemicals in contact with food from packaging and found evidence for 3,601 of them […]
October 26, 2022 — At the intersection of Halloween, inflation, and righteous demands to bring portion sizes under control, candy is shrinking this year. Candy prices are way up, with an average increase of 13 percent versus last year according to the U.S. Department of Labor. At the same time, candy makers are shrinking package sizes – both the […]
February 22, 2022 — For insight into the notion that something is wrong with our food environment, consider the case of Hank the Tank. Hank is a bear of size in South Lake Tahoe, California. Living large with obesity in a posh gated community, this bear is wreaking havoc. All because he found an ample supply of food. California’s […]
January 29, 2022 — For decades now, public health figures have been talking about an urgent need to prevent and reverse the rise of obesity. A number of U.S. presidents – notably George W. Bush and Barack Obama – have embraced this goal. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a whole division devoted to this goal. […]
September 2, 2021 — Better living through chemistry is a catchphrase that takes us back to a time before obesity was really taking off in America. DuPont dropped that phrase in 1982. But the chemistry that may help bring us more adiposity is starting to get some serious attention. Writing in Obesity Reviews, Kelly Brownell and Tim Lobstein are […]
May 10, 2021 — Brace yourself for sugar 2.0. Processed food makers are loading up on sugar that’s not sugar. The push to drive added sugar out of the food supply means that allulose – a rare, but natural form of sugar – is suddenly popular with the industry. It helps that food companies can add this sugar to […]
May 22, 2020 — Remember when Blue Apron was poised for a hot IPO? It’s only been three years, but it seems like a lifetime. Along with the rest of a flock of fledgling meal kit services, Blue Apron has been down in the dumps since its IPO. It seems that beautiful images and romantic notions of cooking with […]
